Drafting mechanism with intermeshing fluted rolls



June 18, 1968 P. B. TARBOX 3,388,435

DRAFTING MECHANISM WITH INTERMESHING FLUTED ROLLS Filed Sept. 25, 1964 United States Patent 3,388,435 DRAFTING MECHANISM WITH INTERMESHING FLUTED ROLLS.

Philip B. Tarbox, Clemson, S.C., assignor to Maremont Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 25, 1964, Ser- No. 399,484 2 Claims. (Cl. 19-266) This invention relates to drafting mechanisms of the type used on spinning and roving frames and the like, and more particularly to novel means for employment of cooperating drafting rolls having a plurality of intermeshing fluted bosses.

In mechanisms of this type, employing an integral bottom roll having a plurality of spaced basses cooperating with a series of two or more boss top rolls, it has been found that it is desirable to use back rolls having meshing flutes in order to take advantage of the desirable evening action exerted by these rolls on the incoming strands of textile material, as well as to provide better control of the same. However, rolls of this type have not been used widely on a commercial basis due primarily to the costly manufacturing process required in order that such rolls may operate in a satisfactory manner, since the heretofore known rolls of this type required that the axially spaced fluted fiber processing areas on a multiple boss roll of this type be precisely aligned in order that the flutes on the multiple boss top roll might mesh properly with those of the bottom roll. In order to achieve such precise alignment of these flutes, an expensive and time-consuming milling or similar operation was required, thus the cost of manufacturing rolls of this type was prohibitive in most instances.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to overcome the above difiiculties by employing a top roll having relatively rotatable fluted bosses that in operation automatically mesh with the cooperating fluted bosses on the integral bottom roll, even though the flutes on adjacent bosses of the bottom roll may not be aligned.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view, in partial section, of the back roll structure of a drafting element incorporating the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the drafting element taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, the angular displacement of adjacent top and bottom fluted bosses being illustrated in phantom lines;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the rolls incorporating the present invention prior to the top roll boss being rotated for meshing with the bottom roll.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a drafting mechanism is there shown which is of conventional configuration. This arrangement includes top and bottom delivery rolls and 12, top and bottom middle rolls 14 and 16, and the top and bottom back rolls comprising this invention indicated generally at 18 and 20, respectively. The bottom rolls may be driven in any conventional manner (not illustrated) with the rotational speed of the middle and front rolls progressively increasing in the usual manner in order to draft the material 22 as desired.

Turning more specifically to the back rolls, it will be seen that the bottom roll 20 includes a long shaft 24 which is rotatably supported by the member 26 and normally extends the full length of the machine, said shaft being provided with a series of fluted bosses spaced apart by suitable distances. When such flutes are formed by rolling or similar process, due to the inherent characteristics of such processes, as is desirable byreason of the low cost of such processes as compared to processes which "ice produce aligned flutes, the longitudinal axes of the flutes of adjacent bosses are usually somewhat misaligned or angularly displaced relative to each other, such misalignment of these flutes being indicated by the distance M in FIG. 1. In order to compensate for such misalignment, the present invention provides a back top roll 18 which includes a shaft 30 upon which is mounted a pair of axially spaced fluted bosses 32 made of any suitable plastic material or steel which are rotatably mounted upon the shaft in any conventional manner. Thus, shaft 30 includes a reduced diameter arbor 34 at each end thereof which is supported in a bearing 36 on the support member 2-8. Although in the preferred embodiment both bosses 32 are rotatably mounted upon the shaft 30, it is only required that one boss be rotatable in order that the desired relative rotational relationship between the same may be obtained, thus it is anticipated that this construc tion may be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention. The top rolls may be weighted by any conventional means, as, for example, by magnetic attractive forces between the top and bottom rolls through the employment of a permanent magnet 38 being positioned in one of the rolls. Such a weighting arrange-ment is disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,079,646 to V. A. Burnham.

Thus, it can be seen that the invention provides a novel roll combination wherein the multiple fluted bosses of a top drafting roll are rotatable with respect to each other, thereby permitting the same to be aligned for intermeshing relationship with misaligned fluted bosses on the multiple boss bottom roll. FIG. 3 is illustrative of such misalignment of the cooperating flutes prior to rotation of the boss 32 of the top roll.

Having described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is understood that other constructions and configurations, obvious to those skilled in the art, are incorporated within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a drafting mechanism, the combination of a pair of rolls between which material to be drafted is adapted to be passed,

one of said rolls having a plurality of fluted processing means with unfluted roll portions between adjacent fiber processing means, the flutes of one of said fiber processing means being angularly displaced with respect to the flutes of an adjacent processing means,

the other of said rolls having a pair of fluted fiber processing means for intermeshing engagement with the fluted processing means of the first mentioned roll,

one of the processing means of said other roll being independently rotatable with respect to the other processing means, whereby the fluted processing means of said rolls may be aligned and intermesh with one another.

2. In a textile processing machine, a drafting mechanism including front and back pair of rolls for processing a strand of discontinuous fibers,

said back pair of rolls comprising a driven bottom roll and an overlying top roll, said bottom roll having a plurality of axially spaced fluted fiber processing bosses with unfluted intermediate roll portions of reduced diameter therebetween extending along the length thereof, said bosses being integral with said roll, the flutes of one boss being angularly displaced with respect to the flutes of an adjacent boss,

said top roll including a central shaft having an arbor at each end thereof, a pair of axially spaced fluted fiber processing bosses mounted on said shaft adjacent said arbors,

said bosses being freely rotatable for independent rotation relative to each other whereby the fluted processing bosses of said top roll may be aligned with the angularly displaced fluted bosses of said bottom roll and intermesh therewith,

bearing means on said machine for receiving said arbors,

and means for applying weighting pressure to said top roll.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1904 Drury 19283 8/1954 Burnham "19-272 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,388,435 June 18, 1968 Philip B. Tarbox It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 15, "basses" should read bosses 1Co1umn 2 line 43 after "fluted" insert fiber Column 3, line 6, before "bearing" insert adjustable Signed and sealed this 28th day of October 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, IR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

1. IN A DRAFTING MECHANISM, THE COMBINATION OF A PAIR OF ROLLS BETWEEN WHICH MATERIAL TO BE DRAFTED IS ADAPTED TO BE PASSED, ONE OF SAID ROLLS HAVING A PLURALITY A FLUTED PROCESSING MEANS WITH UNFLUTED ROLL PORTIONS BETWEEN ADJACENT FIBER PROCESSING MEANS, THE FLUTES OF ONE OF SAID FIBER PROCESSING MEANS BEING ANGULARLY DISPLACED WITH RESPECT TO THE FLUTES OF AN ADJACENT PROCESSING MEANS, THE OTHER OF SAID ROLLS HAVING A PAIR OF FLUTED FIBER PROCESSING MEANS FOR INTERMESHING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FLUTED PROCESSING MEANS OF THE FIRST MENTIONED ROLL, ONE OF THE PROCESSING MEANS OF SAID OTHER ROLL BEING INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER PROCESSING MEANS, WHEREBY THE FLUTED PROCESSING MEANS OF SAID ROLLS MAY BE ALIGNED AND INTERMESH WITH ONE ANOTHER. 